About

Robert is an award winning composer, flutist, saxophonist, arranger, avid reader, maker of art assemblages, and servant to 3 demanding cats. He studied music composition with Phillip Glass, John Cage, and James DeMars and flute/saxophone with Jimmy Heath. His compositions and playing have won numerous awards and grants including a BMI Award for Excellence in Music Composition, Arizona Composers Forum grants, and Arizona Council for the Arts grant. He was also one of the recipients of the 2013 Governor’s Arts Awards from the State of Connecticut.

 

Robert was selected for a residency at the prestigious dance and performing arts center, The Yard, which resulted in the premiere of two new works in Boston and NYC, both of which received favorable reviews in The New York Times. He has performed as a flutist and saxophonist in such diverse settings as The Kennedy Center (soloist), BAM (Brooklyn Academy of Music), The Troubadour (Los Angeles) and CBGBs (NYC) and was a featured performer in the Broadway Benefit Concerts for Newtown, performing with Danny Zolli (Jesus Christ Superstar, Sweeney Todd), Jeri Sager (Cats, Les Miserable), Gary Mauer (Phantom of the Opera), Mark McVey (Tommy, Les Miserables, Chess).

 

Robert has been commissioned by instrumentalists, choreographers, film makers, and dance companies including Dennis Wright (Pilobolus, Alvin Ailey), Sally Radell (Emory University, Atlanta Ballet), Desert Dance Theatre, Kelly Roth and Dancers (NYC, Phoenix, Las Vegas), Marion Kirk Jones (Martha Graham, Doris Humphrey), Shields Collins Bray (pianist, Van Cliburn Foundation, Fort Worth Symphony Orchestra, Fort Worth Opera), Robert Lyons (Pee Wee's Playhouse, Star Trek, Peter Gabriel) and Joseph Wytko (virtuoso saxophonist). His works have aired on National Public Radio, Turner Networks, and Televisión Española in Spain.

 

For many years Robert was the Secretary of the Newtown Cultural Arts Commission and was one of the founder’s of the Newtown Arts Festival and acted for 5 years as its entertainment director. As one of the Directors of “Healing Newtown Through The Power of the Arts” he acted as liaison between the Town of Newtown and The National Endowment for The Arts and was instrumental in helping to bring numerous events to the town including: The New York Philharmonic, New York City Ballet, James Taylor, numerous Broadway stars and performances, author events (Neil Gaiman, Peter Brown, Bryan Collier, Robin Glasser, Jeff Kinney, Barbara McClintock, Natalie Merchant), Pilobolus. He wrote a grant that awarded funding from the NEA to the town to hire a full time Art Director to oversee art therapy and healing programs and arranged donations to the town and school system from companies such as Steinway, Remo, Yamaha, Gibson, Fender, Alfred Publishing, Bose, Guitar Center, Heil Sound, Sennheiser, JBL, NAMM, Shure, Telefunken, Harper Collins, Carl Fischer, Casio, and more.